Chicken Little (film)
Chicken Little is a 2005 American 3D computer-animated science fiction comedy film, produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and loosely based on the original fable of the same name. The 46th Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Mark Dindal from a screenplay by Steve Bencich, Ron J. Friedman, and Ron Anderson, based on a story by Mark Kennedy and Dindal. The film is dedicated to Joe Grant, who died before the film's release. The film was animated in-house at Walt Disney Feature Animation's main headquarters in Burbank, California and released by Walt Disney Pictures on November 4, 2005 in Disney Digital 3-D (the first film to be released in this format), along with the standard 2-D version. It is Disney's first fully computer-animated feature film as Pixar's films were distributed, but not produced by Disney, and Dinosaur (2000) was a combination of live-action and computer animation. Chicken Little was Disney's second adaptation of the fable after a propaganda cartoon made during World War II. The film is also the last Disney animated film made before John Lasseter was named chief creative officer of Disney Animation and the last Disney film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation before the studio was renamed Walt Disney Animation Studios. Chicken Little grossed $314 million worldwide. Plot In the small town of Oakey Oaks, Chicken Little rings the school bell and warns everyone to run for their lives. This sends the whole town into a frenzied panic. Eventually, the Head of the Fire Department calms down enough to ask him what is going on and he explains that a piece of the sky shaped like a stop sign had fallen on his head when he was sitting under the big oak tree in the town square; however, he is unable to find the piece. His recently widowed father Buck Cluck assumes that this "piece of sky" was just an acorn that had fallen off the tree and had hit him on the head, making Chicken Little the laughingstock of the town. A year later, Chicken Little has become infamous in the town for being "crazy" and is constantly being bullied by Foxy Loxy and Goosey Loosey. His only friends are outcasts like himself: Abby Mallard (who has a crush on him), Runt of the Litter (who is extremely large), and Fish Out of Water (who wears a helmet full of tap water). Trying to help, Abby encourages Chicken Little to talk to his father, but he really only wants to make his father proud of him. As a result, Chicken Little joins his school's baseball team in an attempt to recover his reputation and his father's pride, but is made last until the 9th inning of the last game. Chicken Little is reluctantly called to bat by the coach (even though the coach is certain that he will lose the game for them). Chicken Little is able to hit the ball and make it past first, second, and third bases, but is met at home plate by the outfielders. He tries sliding onto home plate, but is touched by the ball. While it is presumed he lost the game, the umpire brushes away the dust to reveal Chicken Little's foot barely touching home plate, thus declaring him safe and the game won; Chicken Little is hailed as a hero for winning the pennant. Later that night, back at home, he is hit on the head by the same "piece of the sky" — only to find out that it is not a piece of the sky, but a device which blends into the background (which would thereby explain why Chicken Little was unable to find it last time). He calls his best friends over to help figure out what it is. When Fish pushes a button on the back of the hexagon, it flies into the sky, taking Fish with it. It turns out to be part of the camouflage of an invisible UFO. Chicken Little manages to ring the bell to warn everyone, but the aliens see the crowds coming and manage to escape, leaving an orange alien child behind. No one believes the story of the alien invasion and Chicken Little is ridiculed yet again – until the next day. He and his best friends discover the orange alien and a few minutes later, a whole fleet of alien ships descend on the town and start what appears to be an invasion. The invasion is actually a misunderstanding as the two aliens are looking for their lost child and attack only out of concern. As the aliens rampage throughout Oakey Oaks, vaporizing everything in their path, Chicken Little realizes he must return the alien to his parents to save the planet. First, though, he must confront his father and regain his trust. In the invasion, Buck, now regaining his pride and trust in his son, defends him from the aliens until they get vaporized. It is then discovered that the aliens weren't vaporizing people; the ray guns teleported them aboard the UFO. Afterwards, the aliens reconcile with Chicken Little and Buck and return everything to normal (except Foxy, whose brain got scrambled, turning her into a Southern Belle and as a result, Runt falls for her) and everyone is grateful for Chicken Little's efforts to save the town.